Spoiler

Did she even see the child? Would she be allowed? Did she even know where he or she was? Was it a boy or a girl? He pictured a tiny girl with Prudence's eyes. He hoped it wasn't a girl.
He couldn't bear a little girl with Prudence's face growing up alone and unloved. And if it were a boy... He imagined a small boy with curly red hair, a look of dogged determination on his little face,
a stubborn little chin, just like Miss Imp's firm little chin.

Oh, God, the whole idea was unbearable. He had to speak to her at once.

This is a re-read, mostly because I remember far too little about books I read years ago and I want to rectify that. A little.

I seem to recall I didn't like any other Anne Grace book as much as I liked this one, and no wonder.

For the most part, this book is a very light and very fun read. It essentially follows the story of a heroine who finds herself... embroidering the truth (sometimes out of whole cloth) and a hero who is consistently delighted to be part of the embroidery. Prudence and Gideon overact and improvise marvelously, adapting themselves seamlessly to situations and in the process going through some of the most adorable flirting I've seen in books. Both of them are consistently good-humored and compassionate, and I was rooting for this ship from the first meeting.

That said, there is a darker undercurrent that runs throughout the story, dealing with far more serious issues. It mostly becomes evident halfway through the book, because the characters do not spend all their time staring soulfully into the moors being upset about their horrible and tragic lives.

Spoiler

Gideon had his mother run away with her sisters' husband, and his father committed suicide over the matter, so his aversions to strong romantic feelings make far more sense than those of the hero who has been jilted and is too much of a baby to get over it. Prudence and her sisters have a horrifically abusive grandfather, and Prudence was once beaten so hard over an affair that she miscarried.

But both of them deal with the very real blows life has handed them by squaring up their shoulders and moving on with things, because shit happens and they have other things to worry about right now.

In this, I have to make a note of Prudence in particular. It's often very hard to find a romance novel heroine whose character extends beyond "pretty, unobjectionable and unremarkable", but Prudence FIGHTS every step of the way with a single minded determination that's just beautiful. Towards the end of the book, she had to be tied up and gagged to allow the hero have his moment in the spotlight, and even then she temporarily incapacitated a henchman by kicking a stool at him. I would feel like tucking her up in a blanket and protecting her, but I'm honestly sure she can take care of herself, and the entirely of her relationship with Gideon- one built on mutual trust, friendship and teasing, was lovely.

Also, I completely buy THIS particular love at first sight for Gideon. Maybe it's just wishful thinking but I find "oh my god this is hilarious I AM ENTERTAINED WHO IS THIS WOMAN SHE IS INSANE AND I LOVE HER" far more believable than "DROOL SEXY BODY PRETTY FACE- attention everybody I am now committed to a relationship kthnxbye." Also, every scene where Prudence and Great-Uncle Oswald affirm their familial feelings for each other. It's just really heartwarming for some reason.

One star cut because I'm not sure of a lot of the writing and editing choices, and frankly there were more sex(ish) scenes in the first half than were required. It's not that I object to sex(ish) scenes as much as I skip them if they have no relevance to the plot and well...//shrugs